Classic Weight Watchers Formulas

As I am trying to work on losing weight again, I ran into an old formula chart used to compute how many Weight Watchers Points you were allowed and how to determine how many points food items counted as.  This is using the older system from around the late 2000s.  I remember they modified it sometime around 2010, but I never learned how to compute the new formulas.  I found these formulas on various websites and compared them to my information I got for my Weight Watchers program and they did match up.

Daily Point Allowance: Add to get Daily value

• Gender
• Male - 8
• Female - 2
• Nursing Female - 12
• Age
• 17-26 - 4
• 27-37 - 3
• 38-47 - 2
• 48-58 - 1
• >58 - 0
• Weight
• 1st 2 digits of your weight in pounds  (245 pounds -> 24 points)
• Height
• < 5'1 - 0
• 5'1-5'10 - 1
• >5'10 - 2
• Predominate Daily Activity
• Sitting - 0
• Occasional Sitting - 2
• Mostly Walking - 4
• Physically Hard Work - 6

Weekly Point Allowance: 35 (optional points that can be used any time during the week for overages or splurging on a treat)

Food Point Value:
(Calories/50) + (Fat/12) - (Minimum(Dietary Fiber,4)/5)

Note that you can only use up to 4 grams of Dietary Fiber in the calculation.  So if you have 2g of fiber, you would use 2/5.  If you had 6g of fiber, you would use the 4/5 value since it is capped at 4g.

Update:
Activity Points
I just discovered this information (July 2017).
Activity points are deducted from your daily accumulated points.  You need to use the following formula:
Weight (lbs) x Duration (min) x Intensity Factor

Intensity Factor:

• Low 
• 0.0002332 
• Not sweating from activity, can carry conversation
• Medium
• 0.0003270
• Sweat after about 10m of activity. Can say few sentences but not full conversation.
• High
• 0.0008077
• Sweating after about 3-5m of activity.  Can say few words as a time, but no much more 

Photo sharing sites?

I have been curious of late as to some other options for photo sharing.

As time comes and goes, so do new technologies, new web sites and new services.  For the longest time, I have used Picasaweb as my photo sharing site.  You are more than welcome to view my pictures too.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jpates

But now, I am curious as to if there are better sites out there now.  I originally chose Picasaweb since at the time, I had just started using a Google blog site (Blogger) and figured it would just be easier to use a Google provided picture sharing site (Picasaweb).

Does anyone have any recommendations? And why do you prefer that over the others?

Journal of Clerk Horrace Whitesteed - The Battle for Hillsbrad

Day 12
We just received word that Southshore has been lost. The Forsaken war machine is too powerful. We are no match for their chemical weapons. I will attempt, however futilely, to keep this journal updates. I must record these atrocities for posterity.

Day 16
Many of the farmers and residents of Hillsbrad fled. Some attempted to venture east to Arathi Highlands. The never made it. Slaughtered before they reached Thoradin's Wall. Many went north to seek refuge in Silverpine Forest. They walked right into the heart of enemy territory! Insane, I know, but they claim that the worgen are now on our side. Last I heard they made it to Fenris Isle. We lost contact with them after that. Worgen? Could it be true...


Day 19 We knew our time was limited. We evacuated everyone that we could, but Burnside stated that he would go down with Hillsbrad. We all agreed to stand by his side. Magistrate Burnside, Citizen Wilkes, Blacksmith Verringtan and the farmers, Getz, Kalaba and Ray remain here as well as a few dozen farmhands.


Day 20 The Hillsbrad Fields are no more. Those that did not flee were captured. The Forsaken have declared us prisoners of war. We are to be laborers for their new plantation.


Day 25 They incinerated our farms and made us watch. Construction begins tomorrow.


Day 40 Construction of their plantation is nearly complete. This place resembles no farm or plantation that I've ever seen.


Day 41 The warden of he plantation, Stillwater, arrived today. He lined all of us up and gave us medical examinations. Nobody knows what's going on.


Day 45 We've started laboring in the sludge fields. They grow poisonous mushrooms in fetid water and muck.


Day 50 I hear screams coming from the Warden's manor. People are starting to disappear.


Day 52 I overheard some guards talking about the farmers, Ray, Getz and Kalaba. Something terrible has happened to them - of this I am certain.


Day 60 Those of us that remain are scared for our lives. Some of the farmers claim to have seen ghouls running amok last night.


Day 61 A strange turn of events today: a master apothecary from Tarren mill arrived. From what little information I am able to gather, he is here to supervise the operations. Lydon is his name.


Day 62 Master Apothecary Lydon was dragged away by Stillwater's guards. He was yelling and screaming that the Dark Lady would have Stillwater's head for this. What is he talking about, I wonder?


Day 63 I saw them take away Burnside and Verringtan last night. I can only assume I am next. -The rest of the journal is full of incoherent scribbles-

NHL ELO Posts

I have been quite busy with work and the holidays..but I will get back to them as soon as I get back from Christmas.

NHL Elo Ratings a/o 11/24/2011

With the holidays, I got a bit behind on getting my numbers figured up. But I finally got them finished up.

For this week, I have to say "Yah". Washington moved up to 11th, which is good seeing them moving in the right direction again.

This week's biggest winner goes to Florida. They moved up 49.66 points this week with their 3 victories against Pittsburgh, New Jersey and the NY Rangers. The flip side of that was Chicago's poor performance resulting in a loss of 55.51 points. Their defeats by Calgary, Edmonton and San Jose caused them to drop from 2nd to 16th in one week.

Honorable Mention goes to Columbus. They not only moved out of the last place slot where they have sat almost all season, they actually beat one of the teams that was in the Top 5 when they went up against Nashville.

Rank	Elo Rating	Team	Change from 11/17/2011
1	303.61	Minnesota	+29.81
2	302.80	Boston	+39.60
3	294.79	Florida	+49.66
4	273.34	Phoenix	+7.44
5	272.31	Pittsburgh	-6.18
6	271.31	NY Rangers	-36.54
7	271.19	Philadelphia	-17.19
8	265.90	San Jose	+17.50
9	265.14	St Louis	-0.30
10	262.88	Detroit	+42.67
11	253.48	Washington	+16.32
12	252.42	New Jersey	+12.20
13	248.92	Dallas	-1.63
14	243.80	Los Angeles	+0.17
15	239.02	Buffalo	-0.83
16	236.84	Chicago	-55.51
17	236.63	Montreal	+20.05
18	235.80	Nashville	-39.59
19	235.20	Edmonton	+20.10
20	232.66	Ottawa	-1.45
21	232.57	Vancouver	+30.13
22	230.44	Toronto	+13.06
23	206.76	Winnipeg	+22.19
24	204.40	Tampa Bay	-32.13
25	184.65	Carolina	+30.56
26	173.67	Calgary	-11.62
27	157.23	Columbus	+46.25
28	150.20	NY Islanders	-18.57
29	135.92	Anaheim	-23.32
30	134.10	Colorado	-31.97

Road to the ACC Championship - Finally at its destination

Coming into this week, Clemson has held the Atlantic Division slot for the last several week, but there has been a neck and neck fight over who would get to represent the Coastal Division in this championship.

After last night's game, all I can say is "wow". After an amazing blowout game from Virginia Tech over UVA with a score of 38-0, the ACC Championship has finally been set. Virginia Tech has finally clinched the Coastal Division slot.

So, for you fans out there, Clemson v. Virginia Tech will take place on December 3rd at 8pm Eastern

Road to the ACC Championships...drudges on

Wow... after UVA's win against Florida State... it is coming down to the wire as to who will be in the ACC Championship. For the Atlantic Division, Clemson had won that slot several weeks ago. But, for the Coastal Division, VT and UVA are still fighting it out. It has come down to one last game to determine who gets to go... and that is the traditional post-Thanksgiving game between VT and UVA.

So... for the ACC Championship...it is going to be Clemson versus the winner of the VT/UVA game. Let's go, Hokies!

NHL Elo Ratings a/o 11/17/2011

In continuing with the Elo ratings for the NHL, my personal favorite of Washington continues their decline from their once vaunted 1st place. The NY Rangers have actually taken the #1 slot for this week. For those of you familiar with the Elo system, the specifics I am using are Starting Value = 200, Floor = 0, K-value = 32(for ratings less than 2100), Results (1=win, 0=loss, 0.5=overtime/shootout loss).

Rank	Elo Rating	Team	Change from 11/11/2011
1	307.85	NY Rangers	+9.91
2	292.35	Chicago	+28.30
3	288.38	Philadelphia	+45.75
4	278.49	Pittsburgh	-13.91
5	275.39	Nashville	+30.26
6	273.80	Minnesota	+17.08
7	265.90	Phoenix	+15.11
8	265.44	St Louis	+51.46
9	263.20	Boston	+43.43
10	250.55	Dallas	-35.39
11	248.40	San Jose	-31.13
12	245.13	Florida	-16.40
13	243.63	Los Angeles	+45.96
14	240.22	New Jersey	+20.17
15	239.85	Buffalo	-20.39
16	237.16	Washington	-40.25
17	236.53	Tampa Bay	-18.37
18	234.11	Ottawa	+51.70
19	220.21	Detroit	-14.85
20	217.38	Toronto	-32.00
21	216.58	Montreal	+12.30
22	215.10	Edmonton	-31.87
23	202.44	Vancouver	+1.64
24	185.29	Calgary	+1.06
25	184.57	Winnipeg	+21.26
26	168.77	NY Islanders	-4.69
27	166.07	Colorado	-40.96
28	159.24	Anaheim	-24.80
29	154.09	Carolina	-3.96
30	110.98	Columbus	+15.57

Road to the 2011 ACC Championship

After today's game, it looks like the ACC Championship game is coming into focus.

For the Atlantic Division, Clemson's defeat of Wake Forest has given Clemson the playoff slot.

For the Coastal Division, the battle rages on between UVA and Virginia Tech. I am thinking VT should have it, but there is still the chance UVA could win the playoff slot. There are 2 scenario's left for which UVA might be able to get into the playoffs.

Scenario 1: If VT loses against UNC, UVA needs to beat VT AND win at least one other match between their Duke and Florida St games.

Scenario 2: If VT wins against UNC, UVA has to win all three matches between Duke, Florida St and Virginia Tech.

So, as of right now, I am casting my lot in the ACC Championship Game being between Clemson and VT, though that is not 100% set in stone yet.

------------------------
Update 1

After the UVA win today against Duke, it makes their chances a little bit easier. Their updated scenarios are below:

Scenario 1: If VT loses against UNC, UVA only needs to beat VT to go to the playoff.

Scenario 2: If VT wins against UNC, UVA needs to win both games against Florida State and VT to go to the playoffs.
-------------------------

NHL Elo Ratings a/o 11/11

Unfortunately after a couple of losses, my Washington Captitals have lost their 1st place rating, but at least they are still near the top. Below is the complete Elo rating list of the NHL as of 11/11/2011:

Rank	Score	Team
1	297.94	NY Rangers
2	292.40	Pittsburgh
3	285.94	Dallas
4	279.53	San Jose
5	277.41	Washington
6	264.05	Chicago
7	261.53	Florida
8	260.24	Buffalo
9	256.72	Minnesota
10	254.90	Tampa Bay
11	250.79	Phoenix
12	249.38	Toronto
13	246.97	Edmonton
14	245.13	Nashville
15	242.63	Philadelphia
16	235.06	Detroit
17	220.05	New Jersey
18	219.77	Boston
19	213.98	St Louis
20	207.03	Colorado
21	204.28	Montreal
22	200.80	Vancouver
23	197.67	Los Angeles
24	184.23	Calgary
25	184.04	Anaheim
26	182.41	Ottawa
27	173.46	NY Islanders
28	163.31	Winnipeg
29	158.05	Carolina
30	95.41	Columbus

NHL Elo Ratings - a/o Oct 26th

Continuing my Elo Ratings for NHL teams, I have updated their scores through October 26th. Below are the Top and Bottom 5 teams in the NHL.

Top 5
316.93 - Washington
268.29 - Pittsburgh
264.43 - Dallas
264.15 - Chicago
239.11 - Colorado

Bottom 5
127.77 - Columbus
142.84 - Winnipeg
163.28 - Montreal
173.58 - Boston
175.94 - Vancouver

Countdown to the 2011 ACC Championship

With December 3rd approaching fast, finally some headway has been made into who will not be playing in the ACC Championship Game. After this weekend's losses, both Boston College and University of Maryland have both secured their fates. The Atlantic Division is very close to figuring out who will be going, while the Coastal Division is completely still up in the air.

So, here is the list of teams still in contention for the ACC Championship Game:

Atlantic Division
Clemson
Florida State (on verge of elimination)
North Carolina State (on verge of elimination)
Wake Forest

Coastal Division
Duke
Georgia Tech
Miami(FL)
North Carolina
Virginia
Virginia Tech

Rankings in the NHL

I have decided to try ranking NHL teams by using the Elo Rating System. It is a system that is very common in giving a rating to individuals competing in 2-person events like chess. I tried it with football a few years back, but it wasn't as successful as I was hoping since football has so few games per season. I figure the NHL plays enough games to get a good statistical sampling to more accurately rate teams.

I did use a variation of the Elo system though. All teams started the year at a score of 200 points. The K-Value I used is the traditional 32 points(for teams under 2100). The change I made though is that if a team loses in an overtime situation, they do not lose points for that game while the winning team still earns points.

So far, for the games up through 10/19/2011, here are my rankings:

Top 5
1. Washington (287.79)
2. Colorado (259.89)
3. Detroit (259.73)
4. Toronto (257.26)
5. Dallas (253.30)

Bottom 5
1. Columbus (129.40)
2. Ottawa (147.99)
3. Tampa Bay (168.18)
4. San Jose (168.88)
5. Montreal (169.44)

Rugby Pictures - Blacksburg v. Blackwater

Here are probably my last set of Blacksburg Rugby pictures for some time. Hope you like. Open up the article to see the whole collection.

Rugby Pictures - Blacksburg @ James River

This weekend was a challenge for photographing. It was raining and very overcast, but I did manage to snag a few really good pictures. Open up his article to view the full gallery.

Letters in World of Warcraft - Blood Oath of the Horde

There are many interesting books and letters you get that you can read within World of Warcraft. Some are silly, others are a nice short story summarizing past events. I found one called the "Blood Oath of the Horde".

Loktar' Ogar! Victory or Death!
It is these words that bind me to the Horde for they are the most sacred and fundamental of truths to any warrior of the Horde.

I give my flesh and blood freely to the Warchief. I am the instrument of my Warchief's desire. I am the weapon of my Warchief's command.

From this moment until the end of days, I live and die - For the Horde!